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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25028974">i'll be your home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitenoisce/pseuds/whitenoisce'>whitenoisce</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>purple haired donghyuck agenda!! [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Crying, Established Relationship, Good Boyfriend Mark Lee (NCT), Light Angst, M/M, Soft Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, barely any purple hair i'm sorry, but there's pokemon and tim hortons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:35:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,868</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25028974</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitenoisce/pseuds/whitenoisce</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“And we’re only here for two days, hyung.” Donghyuck’s eyes begin to fill with unshed tears, head tilting back in hopes to stop them. “The concert’s already tomorrow and we only had today free. You should have spent it with your parents but instead you’re trapezing between treetops like fucking Tarzan."</p><p>or </p><p>Donghyuck is upset that Mark doesn't get to go home when they visit Vancouver. Mark tries to show him that home is wherever he is.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>purple haired donghyuck agenda!! [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>358</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i'll be your home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is set in the summer of 2019 when the boys went to vancouver for the last leg of the north american tour!<br/><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RmIYOox1b8&amp;t=734s">here's</a> a video of them exploring capilano suspension bridge park if it matters!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Donghyuck’s eyes change when they cross the river, Mark notes. </p><p>It’s the middle of May and the weather is finally warming up. Even then, there’s still a formidable bite to the chill in the air that if he were to decide to take a dip in the waters, they’d have to stop filming to get his legs to defrost. He considers it for a second, thinking that if he went down there all the cameras would have to be shut for at least an hour and maybe, <em> maybe </em>Donghyuck could finally catch a break. </p><p>He’d have done it, but his legs think according to his paycheck and drags his reluctant body across the suspension bridge as he punches out a laughter for the camera that sounded too empty even to his own ears. His gaze lingers on the mop of silver a few paces ahead, and then back to the mossy green of the river down below. </p><p>They’re 70 feet above the ground, but he swears when he was younger the distance felt a lot more like its 230 meter counterpart. A voice that sounds awfully like Johnny tells him it’s the same thing, but when you’re seven on a school trip and your head didn’t reach the bridge railings, those numbers made all the difference. </p><p>The park wasn’t this popular back then, and they had gone in the middle of September so there weren’t a lot of people. But Mark remembers Mrs. Lee stopping them in the middle of the bridge, pointing her finger to the steady stream below them. She goes on to tell the class about the salmon run. Some special fishes can swim upstream from sea to freshwater, and salmon in particular complete their life cycle by returning back to the river where they were born. </p><p>The sea is big, and there are obstacles like waterfalls and rapids and dams, so naturally someone in the class asks, “How do they find their way back home?” </p><p>It’s a valid question, one that their teacher was only delighted to answer. It was magnetoreception, but that was too difficult a word for their seven year old minds to grasp. She ends up explaining that it’s sort of like a GPS for their fishy brains, “You know when, you’re on the way home and suddenly you don’t need to think of where to turn? Your feet just automatically work on instinct? Kind of like that.” </p><p>Some other kid asks about what happens when the salmon returns to their home, “Do they like, start a family?” </p><p>“Well, no. They lay their eggs on the spawning ground and they just...pass away.”</p><p>It seems the class didn’t like that answer too much, because the next thing she knew she was met with a chorus of disappointed whines. In such a short amount of time the kids have grown fond of the upstream swimming salmons, and the knowledge of their bitter demise has done nothing but upset their idealistic hearts. </p><p>Apparently, the journey from the sea back to the river takes so much energy, that when they lay their eggs there’s not much else for them to do but wait for the sweet release of death.</p><p>The thought didn’t sit well with Mark. Home was supposed to feel like...home. It was a safe space. You’re supposed to like it enough to feel rejuvenated after a long journey, even if it takes a couple of days to recuperate. If nothing but death awaits those fish in the river then maybe the river isn’t their home, but he keeps these thoughts to himself because Mrs. Lee shushes them and continues to lead them across the bridge. </p><p>When they finally settle into a resting area, the kids completely forget the tragic fate of the salmon in favor of hotdogs and cider. But the thought remains in Mark’s head, rippling on the surface and sinking heavy into the saltwater of his mind. He swears to never end up like salmon, and from that day onward his parents can only wonder in confusion why he stopped eating seafood. </p><p>The bridge stabilizes beneath his feet the nearer they get to the other side, and behind him Taeyong has finally stopped screaming about the impossibility of the bridge withstanding the weight of 96 elephants. The rest area from his memories has now transformed into a cafe that sold cinnamon records, and while the leader went and showcased his improving English to the camera, Mark slumps against a wooden post. </p><p>When he looks up, he finds Donghyuck staring at him in silence with that look in his eyes from when they crossed the bridge. He wants to ask what’s wrong, but he doesn’t get to because Taeil accidentally hits his head on an overhanging lamp and just like that the cameras are suddenly rolling. </p><p>Questions and knowing glances are forgotten for camera smiles and variety personas. And they go on filming the rest of the day just like that, as Mark Lee and Lee Haechan of NCT 127. </p><hr/><p>When Mark enters their hotel room, Donghyuck is already preparing for bed. </p><p>It’s pretty common for the members to pass out anywhere after the directors say cut, so this isn’t really strange. Being an idol is hard work, and Mark understands more than anyone the seduction of soft pillows and a warm bed even if it’s 7 in the evening. </p><p>He would have thought nothing of the scene unfolding before him if it weren’t for Donghyuck beating the living daylights out of the hotel pillows, muttering aggressively under his breath. </p><p>Donghyuck, in turn, doesn’t hear Mark come in over the sound of his violent fluffing, so he freezes when a hand comes up to save the pillows from their demise. </p><p>“Yo, Hyuckie.” Mark’s voice was all over the place, high and then low and then on the cusp of cracking. It sounds so distinctly Mark that he almost blanks out. What was he doing again? </p><p>“What did the pillows ever do to you?”</p><p>Right. He was mauling the bed. He doesn’t know how hard he was going but at the very least he was glad pillows were no longer made of actual feathers, otherwise he’d have nothing to sleep on for the night. It couldn’t be helped, the frustration had to go somewhere and standard issue beddings were awfully resilient. It could have been worse, really. He could’ve chosen to punch Jungwoo and then they’d<em> all </em> be out of commission. They should thank him, if anything. </p><p>Donghyuck drops the pillow in his hand and stares pointedly at Mark. “It’s none of your business, is it?” </p><p>He knows he’s being difficult, but the quip was out of his mouth before his mind could even grapple the words. It’s a defense mechanism, probably. He can’t be out here unloading his feelings in front of Mark Lee on the first try. He’s not that easy. Mark still has to work for things even though they’re already dating. Besides, it buys him more time to figure out exactly why he was upset anyways. </p><p>“It kinda is?” Mark lands on the bed with a plop, laying back to starfish across the sheets for a second before propping himself up to look at Donghyuck. “Anything that upsets you is my business.” </p><p>That’s so sweet, so naturally Donghyuck has to gag. It causes a giggle to bubble up Mark’s throat and Donghyuck finds himself smiling at how his boyfriend really does look like a baby cheetah when he laughs. Maybe he does deserve some rights after all.</p><p>“Don’t you think it’s weird?” He starts, hoping Mark can read his mind and he never has to complete the thought. Of course Mark only tilts his head in question, silently egging him to continue. “That we’re in Vancouver.” </p><p>“Well, it’s not exactly the States is it? But it is North America and that’s a whole different thing. I dunno.” </p><p>“I’m not talking about that, you idiot.” Donghyuck throws a pillow in Mark’s direction as he sits on the bed, folding his legs to his chest. He takes a deep breath, trying to find the words to explain but feels nausea crawl up his throat instead. </p><p>“What then?” </p><p>“It’s just,” Donghyuck wishes he hadn’t thrown the pillow so he had something to grasp, or punch. “We’re finally in your hometown after so long. You probably missed it right? And you probably want to see your friends and family but you’re stuck here in this room and you can’t even make a vlog about it like Johnny-hyung did.” </p><p>He remembers how they had excitedly piled out of the tour bus in front of Johnny’s childhood home a couple weeks back to the sight of an equally ecstatic Mama Suh. Her coddling embarrassed the hell out of Johnny, but anyone with eyes could see how happy he was to be back home. Donghyuck thinks that Mark deserved at least a day to himself, and the fact that he’s powerless to do anything about it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. </p><p>Mark’s face softens at the sight of Donghyuck looking so upset, the realization clicking in his head. The younger was always sharp words and pointed stares, but deep inside he's just a boy with a heart too good for this world. </p><p>Mark would be lying if he said he didn’t think about it, but he’s long made peace with the tight schedule laid out for them before they even left Korea. Things like flights and concert dates are non-negotiables, and it doesn’t matter to the money whether it’s been six years since he last set foot back home. His parents thought it was a pity, too, but they promised to come visit him in Seoul when the tour ends instead. </p><p>He scoots nearer to Donghyuck who has curled up into himself to wrap an arm around his shoulders. </p><p>“And we’re only here for two days, hyung.” Donghyuck’s eyes begin to fill with unshed tears, head tilting back in hopes to stop them. “The concert’s already tomorrow and we only had today free. You should have spent it with your parents but instead you’re trapezing between treetops like fucking Tarzan,” says Donghyuck, voice dripping with spite. His lips have unconsciously formed a pout and all Mark wants to do is kiss it off his face. </p><p>Instead he holds him tighter, hauling a pliant Donghyuck over his lap as the younger tries his best to get his shit together. He fails. He didn’t think he’d cry so easily, but now that it started it wouldn’t stop.</p><p>“And...and I just thought it’s so unfair. That I get to be in Korea all the time where it’s comfortable and familiar. I’m never too far from family. It didn’t even cross my mind. You must have been so sad this entire time, hyung!” </p><p>He tries to close his eyes in hopes to stop the tears but the dam has already broken over, and Donghyuck is left holding on to Mark’s shoulders for dear life. He’s wailing pathetically at this point but he can’t get himself to stop. Breathing is difficult and he knows he’s soaking through the material of Mark’s shirt, but the older doesn’t seem to care and that makes him cry even harder. </p><p>“Shhh.” Mark just holds him like that, scooping up all his limbs to make a tight bundle of themselves. He rocks them slowly as he waits for Donghyuck to calm down, but he can’t help the warm fuzzy feeling that grows in his chest.</p><p>Donghyuck is not one to cry easily, but he’s out here worrying about Mark in ways he doesn’t even worry for himself. At this moment, Mark realizes that there’s literally no one else in the world who would ever love him the way Donghyuck does. No one is going to look out for him the way he does and no one in the world could ever come close to making him feel the way he does. </p><p>“I’m sorry,” Mark offers, feeling guilty that Donghyuck is in so much pain because of him. He tries to wipe the tears off of the younger’s face but like rain on the window pane they just keep coming. “We can visit some other time.” </p><p>“What are you sorry for?” Donghyuck tries to glare at his direction, but he supposes it doesn’t get his point across because Mark only smiles. It makes Donghyuck want to punch him, softly, on the mouth, with his own mouth. Maybe. “I’m not the one who wasted his day in a suspension bridge park.” </p><p>In the silence of the hotel room, Mark comes to an undeniable conclusion. It doesn’t hit him like a ton of bricks the way he thought it would, but instead it tickles his ears with the sound of soft sniffling and the odd hiccup. </p><p>Donghyuck is it for him. </p><p>And he can’t wait for the day when the cheers die down and lights go out and the stage has no place for them. When the camera stops rolling and there is no one around but friends and family to witness as he gets down on one knee to chase the dream that has always felt like home. </p><p>But for now he sits there, holding the world in his hands as he swims upstream from saltwater to the river. It is a journey of a thousand miles but he takes his time, picking his battles and making sure he doesn’t exhaust himself on the way. The longitudes and latitudes won’t matter and not even magnetoreception can derail him from the path he has chosen to take. For as long as the sun shines, he will never be lost. For as long as he has Donghyuck, he will always find his way home. </p><p>Donghyuck’s crying eventually dies down and his breathing evens out on Mark’s chest. His face is puffy, but his eyes are clear the way the sky brightens after a storm. The sight puts Mark at ease, knowing that the worst is over and Donghyuck feels the same. It feels like he’s been milked dry of all he has, but although the light has gone, so has the darkness. He is filled with a renewed sense of relief, knowing he can start filling himself up with just good things again. </p><p>Mark presses a kiss onto Donghyuck’s forehead. It’s light, and from there he continues to pepper kisses around Donghyuck’s tear stained face, hoping to erase any remnant of doubt on his honey skin. His heart swells when the younger chuckles against him and when he looks down, Donghyuck looks so much better. </p><p>Although he’d like to sit there with Donghyuck in his arms for the rest of eternity, he knows more than anyone that the one thing you need after a good cry is a bath. So he pulls back and pats Donghyuck’s hips twice to get him to lift himself off his lap. His legs scream in pins and needles, but he ignores it to hop off the bed. </p><p>He extends a hand out to the younger, and Donghyuck takes it wordlessly and without hesitation. He will follow Mark anywhere if he’ll have him, to the windows, to the walls, to the ends of the earth and the borders of space, but for now, their destination is the shower, and though that’s a little less romantic than the destinations in his head Donghyuck lets himself be pulled to the bathroom anyways. </p><p>The floor is cold under his feet, but he does not flinch as he watches Mark move with a grace usually reserved for the practice room. He sets the towels on the counter, and after that he fiddles with the many knobs of the intricate shower system to get the water running in that exact temperature Donghyuck likes. Ice cold. </p><p>The sound of running water is loud in his ears but it doesn’t matter because Mark is walking towards him in a waddle and pulling him close so that their hips are flush together. He doesn’t know where one ends and the other begins, but Donghyuck lets himself be held in silence as Mark stares into his eyes. </p><p>He feels like he doesn’t deserve it but Mark’s gaze is so tender and so fond that he feels like melting into the puddle only to be swirled down the drain where he probably belongs. But before his thoughts wander off to dangerous territories, Mark’s grip tightens on his hips as if by clockwork. </p><p>The way he’s flushed against Mark’s body would be sexy in any other instance but today the Mark in front of him is not the Mark of the famous Molo in that show stopping emerald green, not  Mark the Golden Child of SM and not Mark the star of everyone’s wet dreams. </p><p>The man who holds him close in his wire rimmed glasses and messy blond hair is Lee Minhyung, born August 2nd of 1999 when the Sun was in Leo and the Moon was in Aries and Donghyuck can do nothing else but thank the stars and the planets for aligning the way they did so that 20 years later the he can have the love of his life in his arms and the sun in his eyes and all of the flowers in his lungs. </p><p>He feels like he cannot breathe but it does not matter because Mark sucks in a deep breath for them and leans in to transfer the air into Donghyuck’s mouth. Suddenly he is reborn in an explosion of fireworks behind his eyes and the taste of comfort on his lips and he feels his tears well up again before Mark pulls away, thumbing his cheek in earnest. </p><p>“I’ll be right back, get under the shower for me?” </p><p>And Donghyuck only nods as Mark turns away, closing the door behind him. Slowly he strips off his shirt and lays it flat on the floor the way Mark taught him many years ago so the water doesn’t make slippery puddles on the tiled floors. He drops the rest of his clothes in the makeshift hamper they had hung behind the door and gets under the shower.</p><p>It’s cold, but that’s the understatement of the century. Each drop from the showerhead hits him like a hailstorm and he just knows Mark would wince as soon as he steps under the deluge because “who in the right mind would want to bathe in ice water all year long?” But despite his complaints he always sucks it up for him and Donghyuck suddenly feels his cheeks warm at the thought. He considers ramping up the knobs but stops himself because he doesn’t know which way they turn. </p><p>Donghyuck waits long enough that his shoulders have started to go numb, but eventually Mark comes back with clothes from their bags and a bottle of what Donghyuck makes out to be that ridiculously expensive purple shampoo they were instructed to bring along in case their hair turns a little too brassy. </p><p>Mark makes quick work of his clothes and joins him under the shower. As expected, Mark winces, so for his efforts Donghyuck goes on his tippy toes to reward the older with a kiss on the nose, feeling funny with all the water dripping all over them. </p><p>He hears Mark chuckle softly before reaching past him to turn the shower off for a second. He hears the flick of a cap and a squirt of a bottle and the next thing he knows there are fingers in his hair and life has never felt so good. </p><p>This isn’t new. They’ve showered together before either in the rush of an important schedule or during a late night romp when they’re both washing and dirtying themselves at the same time. But never has Donghyuck felt so much tenderness in the cold tiles of a hotel bathroom the way he does now, with Mark humming a b-side under his breath and massaging random patterns along his scalp. </p><p>He feels floaty and so incredibly loved that his heart will burst at the seams if he doesn’t do anything. So he grabs the bottle of shampoo off the hollowed space on the wall and pours the dark purple liquid onto his hands. It streaks brighter on Mark’s diamond blond than his silver but when you have a whole head of purple bubbles on you, you are in no place to giggle. </p><p>He ends up laughing anyway, and he hears Mark sputter in question before he’s following suit, their high pitched laughter echoing between the four walls of the bathroom.</p><p>The shampoo will have to stay on for a while, so Mark decides to pull a confused Donghyuck out of the shower and in front of the mirror where they end up in another round of sudsy laughter because they’ve made ridiculous spikes out of each other’s hair and it’s stupid but also so them that it makes so much sense. </p><p>Donghyuck reaches out to the tiny bar of hand soap by the sink and wets it under the tap of the faucet. He figures all soap is cut from the same block no matter where they’re stationed in the bathroom anyway so he lathers it in his hands before sudsing up all of Mark that he can reach. </p><p>He thanks himself for laying out clothes on the floor because he’s sure they’re making a mess right now, but Mark doesn’t seem to mind because he’s taking the bar from Donghyuck’s hands and doing the same. </p><p>They take their time going through the vast expanse of each other’s skin, going down and up and around. Somewhere in the middle Donghyuck’s hands find their way around Mark’s neck just as Mark’s hands settle on the small of Donghyuck’s waist, and they find themselves swaying side to side, slow dancing to a song in their heads. </p><p>The instructions behind the shampoo bottle tell them that they should leave it on for no more than five minutes but it’s been ten and they can’t be bothered to burst the bubble they’ve built for themselves in front of this mirror with all the pristine tiles watching as they fall in love slowly, then altogether.</p><p>Only when the bubbles in their hair have completely popped out and they really risk waking up to purple hair do they hurry back into the shower to wash all the soap and surfactants away. </p><p>When they’re all clean and they’ve made sure that Mark’s hair is still blond and Donghyuck’s a gunmetal in the damp, they dry themselves and make a game out of who can shake out the most water from their hair. It’s stupid, but Mark lets Donghyuck win anyways because his hair is longer and therefore has more power and capacity to hold ammunition. </p><p>Donghyuck smiles in triumph as Mark dresses him in the soft of his favorite shirt, the one with stripes and the ratty hem that the camera doesn’t pick up. </p><p>Mark steps out of the bathroom first and Donghyuck stays behind to pick up his clothes from the floor when he hears a knock from outside the room. He freezes, almost dropping the shirt back onto the floor. </p><p>He hears the door open, but the flurry of English that follows after is too fast for him to catch. He waits until the door closes again before poking his head out in search for Mark.</p><p>He’s nowhere to be found, but he pushes the thought to the back of his mind because he does not remember the room looking like this when he left it. He lets out a small noise of confusion before his ears pick up the sound of Mark’s knowing chuckle from outside Donghyuck’s limited field of vision. He finally steps out fully into the room and sees the older inspecting a bunch of paper bags on the desk next to the TV. </p><p>“What’s going on?” Donghyuck peers into the contents of the paper bags and sees fries and burgers and little round cake pops alongside slushie looking drinks that look exactly like what their manager told them they weren’t allowed to eat until after tomorrow. He gives Mark a warning look, but the older only smiles, eyes crinkling as he bounces on his feet in excitement. </p><p>“Timbits!” Mark says, as if those two syllables held all the answers to his questions. </p><p>“Am I supposed to know what that means?” </p><p>“You’re about to!” </p><p>“When?”</p><p>“When you guess the passcode!” At that Mark hauls all the paper bags in his arms with a huff and crawls into the space between the two beds. At least, where it’s supposed to be anyways. Because right now Donghyuck sees none of that carpeted floor and only a heap of white. At first Donghyuck didn’t really know what he was supposed to be looking at, but slowly it all comes together. </p><p>The way the heavy comforter was tied atop the headboards, cascading down the space between the beds only to be tucked strategically between the bedside table that found itself pushed all the way to the foot of the bed, acting like a little gate. Most of the pillows are gone from the bed and those that remained served to keep the blankets down like sandbags. (<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfNVYSiU4AIeYfp?format=jpg&amp;name=medium">x</a>)</p><p>Donghyuck finds himself biting at his lower lip to suppress a giggle. It’s adorable, really. And it looks to be well made, too, even by Donghyuck’s self proclaimed superior pillow fort standards. </p><p>A head pops in between the legs of the bedside table, and Donghyuck giggles again at the serious look that has fallen over Mark’s features. It looks ridiculous knowing he’s probably on his stomach like a worm under all those blankets, but as if Mark knew exactly what he was thinking, his brows furrow, lips forming into a pout.</p><p>“Do you want in or not?” Mark says, whine evident in his voice.</p><p>Donghyuck rolls his eyes but a smile graces his lips. “Okay, okay. I want in.”</p><p>“First, you have to shut the lights.”</p><p>Donghyuck does as he is told, humoring Mark who waits impatiently on the floor, head still sticking out of the fortress. When he comes back, he finally notices the bright light that illuminates the tunnel Mark has made between their beds, and reminds himself that there was a lamp in here somewhere when they first entered the room. </p><p>“Nice okay! Now what’s the password.”</p><p>Donghyuck lets out a scoff as he pokes his tongue through his cheek. How was he supposed to know? He asks that much, but Mark only narrows his eyes and shimmies back into the fort as if to shun Donghyuck away. </p><p>“Wait!” Donghyuck shouts. “Can I have a hint?”</p><p>Mark’s head pops back out after a second. “Fine. It’s easy Hyuckie. Who’s the greatest person in the world?” </p><p>“Easy.” Donghyuck knew the answer to this one. It was a no brainer. “Mark Lee.” </p><p>“No— what?” Mark’s voice goes high the way it does in both disbelief and embarrassment. “Wow I didn’t even think of that. The answer’s actually Tim Horton, but that’s a pretty good answer. So you get a one time pass. Come on in.” </p><p>Donghyuck doesn’t miss the blush on Mark’s cheeks as he disappears into the tunnel again, looking behind his back as if to beckon him to follow. Inside he hears pillows being fluffed and he takes it as a sign to enter, getting on his forearms to start crawling. </p><p>Inside, the fort is bathed in a soft yellow glow, and he finds Mark seated in the far corner on top of a pillow. His laptop is set up next to him and there’s not a lot of space but they’ll make it work. He takes his seat across the older boy and waits for a second before looking up at Mark. </p><p>“So do you plan to tell me what this is all about or…” Donghyuck trails off. A soft smile settles itself on Mark’s face as he digs through the paper bags, handing Donghyuck a burger in the process. It’s a double cheeseburger, it says so on the packaging. Donghyuck unwraps the burger and takes his first bite as he watches Mark arrange the rest of the fries and the drinks in between them for easy access. His ever dependable, fully capable Mark Lee. </p><p>“I used to make play forts with my brother when I was younger. I was around nine, ten maybe? And he was like this full blown teenager, but he still played with me whenever I was sad.”</p><p>“Is that how you set this up so fast?” Donghyuck asks with a mouthful of food. He couldn’t have done it just now, so it must have been when he left to get clothes. </p><p>“Yeah I got a lot of practice. He was actually the one who taught me the table trick, you really have to push the blankets in between the beds and the table otherwise it wouldn’t be taut and they’d sag over your head like<em> floop </em>.” Mark says as he pats Donghyuck’s head in an attempt to mimic the feeling of falling blankets. </p><p>Donghyuck only smiles into his next bite. He sort of knows where this is going, but he doesn’t trust himself to say the right words, so he swipes up a couple more fries into his mouth for good measure. </p><p>Mark pulls up a random playlist on his laptop and presses play. A light folk style instrumental starts to play in the air and Donghyuck can’t help but think it’s an uncharacteristic song choice for Mark, all things considered. It’s simple and fresh but he can’t shake the niggling feeling that he knows that melody from somewhere. Donghyuck almost chokes on his burger when chord 8-bar repeats and realization dawns on him. </p><p>“That’s Littleroot Town!” Donghyuck’s eyes bug out of their socket as he looks at Mark, who has a shit-eating grin on his face. </p><p>“The one and only,” says Mark who starts on his own burger after checking it didn’t have ketchup in it like he requested. </p><p>“Wait,” Donghyuck’s eyes narrow in suspicion. He follows Mark’s movements like a hawk, but before he could speak the older is already rolling his eyes. </p><p>“Are you gonna ask me which the best Pokemon game is? Because it’s Emerald. Dang, must I have this conversation with everyone I talk to?” </p><p>“Of course! If you had said anything else you’d have needed to find another boyfriend.” </p><p>“Good thing I had a soft spot for Rayquaza then,” says Mark, winking at him before he takes another bite. He has grease all over the sides of his lips but Donghyuck feels his cheeks grow hot anyway. Mark’s shoulders have grown broad over the years and his hair is an unnatural color, but he can imagine so clearly a tiny Mark playing Pokemon under his pillow fort on a school night, and bribing his brother to get them fast food in secret because “There’s rice at home.” </p><p>He thinks it would have looked something like this, and Donghyuck’s heart swells at the fact that Mark is letting him see a little snippet of his life back home. He left so young, so his memories of home are bound to be a little juvenile, but Donghyuck takes all that he can get. He finds himself savoring the taste on his tongue, because hey maybe Canadian pickles really do hit different. </p><p>“Who’s Tim Horton? And why is he so great?” Donghyuck eyes the box of cake pops that Mark was so excited about, and unsurprisingly Mark starts bouncing on his seat. He’s not yet done with his burger, but he sets it down to open the box. </p><p>“For the record, I’m not actually sure if he exists. But, Tim Hortons is a really famous coffee shop around here. I’m surprised we don’t have it back home yet.” Mark says as he removes the tape from atop the drinks and poking it with the straws. Donghyuck politely ignores the way Mark referred to Seoul as home, because he’s not ready to have that conversation yet. </p><p>“We kinda have to fall asleep tonight, so I didn’t get coffee. But luckily for you the best thing on that menu is actually Frozen Hot Chocolate, so we’re all good.” Mark hands him one of the cups and motions for him to give it a go. He supposes he doesn’t have a choice, so he takes a sip. It was a chocolate drink, so it was bound to taste good by principle. But he didn’t expect it to taste <em> that </em> good. </p><p>“Ya, what the hell is this?” Donghyuck manages before he’s back sipping at the drink again, and again, and again. Mark can only watch in glee as he finally sips on his own, proud of his life choices. </p><p>“It’s good isn’t it? I wasn’t allowed to have coffee as a kid, so they’d always just get me the itty bitty version of this when it was available. I think it was a summer drink or something. Anyway one day they decided ‘Alright Mark you’re a big boy now you can finally get coffee’, so I got mad excited right? And so I get the one my dad always gets, and damn…” Mark’s face sours at the memory, and Donghyuck laughs. </p><p>“I’ve never wanted summer to come back so quickly.” </p><p>“But you drink coffee now though?” Donghyuck asks, nevermind that he’s halfway through his frozen hot chocolate. </p><p>“Yeah I guess my palette matured over the years, but mostly I drink it to stay awake. I can’t do what Johnny hyung does with the swirling and the smelling and shit.” </p><p>Donghyuck only nods, thinking about how Johnny’s coffee routine is sacred in the dorms. He weighs the beans and grinds them fresh everyday. He even has a timer for the water to rest after it comes up to a boil. It’s a science apparently, but Donghyuck can’t imagine going through all the trouble. </p><p>“Oh but hey. Something good actually came out of that day.” Mark says, smiling at the memory. </p><p>“Hmm? What is it?” </p><p>“After the whole black coffee debacle, they felt so bad for me they bought me a box of Timbits. Yooo it felt like Christmas, there’s like ten of them inside and the flavors are all different.” Mark says, picking up one that had sprinkles all over it and feeding it to the younger. “Here try this one.”</p><p>Donghyuck chews and realizes it tasted more like doughnuts than cake pops. They seem a little too big to fit through actual doughnut holes but he ignores that for some peace of mind. </p><p>“How is it?” Mark looks at him expectantly. </p><p>“It feels more like my birthday than Christmas,” Donghyuck says when he manages to swallow. </p><p>“Ooh you’re good. That’s actually the birthday timbit. It’s pretty popular but it’s not my favorite.” </p><p>“It’s still pretty good though? Which one’s your favorite then?” Donghyuck watches as Mark fishes out a chocolatey looking one from the pile. For someone so excited about Timbits, Mark has been doing a great job of not eating them. Donghyuck feels just a little bit guilty, if not slightly flattered. </p><p>“This one! I figured it would taste too similar to your drink, so I had to cleanse your palette or something.” Mark says confidently, as if he’s had this exact same thought process one too many times. </p><p>“You should eat one too,” Donghyuck says before he plops the chocoball in his mouth. It’s glorious, he totally gets why this would be Mark’s favorite. The older only hums as he picks out another chocoball for himself, and ends up moaning when he finally gets it in his mouth. </p><p>“Oh my god that’s so good. I haven’t had these in so long.” </p><p>They go through the box rather quickly, sipping at their drinks every now and then. Mark tells him about how they celebrated a classmate’s birthday with Timbits one time, and almost set fire to homeroom because they thought the Timbits would stay still the way cupcakes do when you put individual candles on them. Donghyuck tells him he’s an idiot, and Mark doesn’t deny it. Somehow the rules of physics didn’t apply to nine year old logic, and though Mark is 20  Donghyuck vows never to let him be in charge of any birthday celebrations in the future.</p><p>After that, Mark tells him about his neighborhood and his school and how many subway stops there were between. He tells him how he’d usually spend the weekend with his buddies and how high top DC shoes were the shit back in grade school. Somewhere in the middle, Donghyuck asks him to tell the story of how he auditioned for the company even though he’s heard it a thousand times. School happened to be out and he was accompanying a friend for kicks. Mark tells it to him like it was the first time, and they spend hours just like that, sitting and talking about the randomest memories.</p><p>When the food is gone and there’s only the faint sound of village instrumentals in the background, Donghyuck can’t help but stare at Mark. He’s so beautiful in this light that it makes Donghyuck’s breath hitch, hands almost clutching at his chest for fear that his heart would break out of its cage. </p><p>He’s certain Mark has looked better. When his hair’s done up and his eyes are all shadowed and he’s preparing to take on the stage. That Mark is breathtaking, meant for the limelight, and Donghyuck likes that Mark too. But this before him, bare faced and bespectacled under the soft glow of the fortress lamp, is a Mark that is reserved only for him. It’s a Mark that he gets to keep for himself, a Mark he never has to share with the rest of the world. </p><p>He wonders how long he can get away with harboring such selfish feelings for someone who belongs to everyone else, but before he can even start to poison himself from the inside out, his body acts on its own and he’s crawling up onto Mark’s lap. </p><p>His body feels heavy, but Mark’s hands around his waist made for a gentle descent. He wraps his arms wordlessly around Mark’s neck, and stares into his eyes for a second before leaning in for a kiss. </p><p>Marks parts his lips without missing a beat, giving and taking as the younger demands. There is a mix of salty and sweet and something inherently Donghyuck on his tongue and Mark can do nothing else but raise a hand to his nape to press him closer. It’s slow and languid, and time seems to melt away. They could stay like this forever. They should stay like this forever. </p><p>He doesn’t really know how much time has passed, but some time later when Donghyuck pulls away, he’s out of breath and a little light headed. He rests his head on the crook of Mark’s neck, and Mark holds him tight the way he did hours ago.  </p><p>“Thank you,” he whispers into Mark’s neck, not really sure if the latter can hear him. “For showing me your home.” </p><p>He feels Mark pull away and for a second he panics, thinking he must have said the wrong thing. But the older only lifts his chin to look at him as he tucks a stray hair behind his ear. </p><p>“I could have done this anywhere, you know? We could have been in Greece eating pizza instead, and it still would have been the same.” Mark pauses, and the silence is loud in Donghyuck’s ears. “It’s not the food or the fort or the place. It’s you, Hyuckie. Anywhere is home for as long as I’m with you.” </p><p>The way Mark looks at him makes him feel so small, but the older is one step ahead of him and starts rocking him in his arms before he could curl in on himself. </p><p>A part of him tries to convince himself that he heard it wrong, that Mark didn’t just say the words he thinks he said while they’re literally in Vancouver. But he also knows he has absolute pitch, and that there’s no denying what he heard especially with the way Mark is looking at him with stars in his eyes. </p><p>As tempting as it is to let loose again, he really doesn’t have it in himself to have a repeat of today’s breakdown. Donghyuck wills himself to take big breaths as Mark’s comforting hand rubs at his back. </p><p>“Don’t say things like that anymore, please. I’m too tired to cry again,” says Donghyuck when he finally gets a hold of himself. </p><p>He slumps boneless against Mark as his eyes flutter close, focusing on the sound of the older’s heartbeat. It hammers against Mark’s chest, and Donghyuck allows the steady beating to lull him into the space between dreams and reality. Mark says something and Donghyuck feels the vibration more than he hears it, words completely flying over his head. But he supposes it doesn’t matter. </p><p>Mark can always repeat it for him in the morning, and home is a feeling that will never go away. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>welp so that was super self-indulgent 🤭 haha </p><p>i even got my brother to help me draw the <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfNVYSiU4AIeYfp?format=jpg&amp;name=medium">little fort set up</a> mark had going on so you guys can understand it better.<br/><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thhTFELnWGc">here's</a> littleroot town as well!</p><p>  <a href="https://twitter.com/whitenoisce">twt</a><br/><a href="https://curiouscat.me/whitenoisce">cc</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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